Parents Wanted!

By Ruth Jean Dale

Instant family?

Jessica Reynolds has a wonderful daddy. Matt Reynolds is big, strong, handsome and kind. But when it comes to girl stuff he well, he could use help! Her best friend, Zach, has a great mother. Laura Gilliam is sweet, pretty and single . What if she and Zach could get her dad and his mom together?

Unfortunately there's just one problem with the young matchmakers' planMatt and Laura find each other infuriating! In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they'd do anything for their children but they never expected that to include marriage!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781459252714

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

MRS. FORBES, longtime receptionist at the Rawhide, Colorado, Review, looked up from her word processor with a smile. Why Jessica Reynolds! she exclaimed. How are you, honey? I haven’t seen you since your ninth birthday party and that was at least three months ago!

Jessica shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, thrusting her hands behind her back so Mrs. Forbes wouldn’t see the plastic shopping bag, or be curious about its contents. My birthday is April sixteenth, she said. Thank you for the soccer ball.

My pleasure. The nice lady beamed. Would you like a jellybean?

Yes, thank you. Mrs. Forbes always had a bowl of jellybeans on her desk; you could tell she was a grandma. Jessica scooped out a handful and popped several into her mouth.

Mrs. Forbes nodded approvingly. So what brings you here to a boring old newspaper office on this fine July day?

Jessica spoke around a mouthful of candy. I came to see my grandpa. Is he here?

He sure is.

Can I talk to him?

You sure can. Mrs. Forbes pointed to the closed door with the sign that said Editor, Publisher, Owner and King. Go right on in, honey. He’s been working on that editorial for two hours already. If it’s not right now, it never will be. And you can tell him I said so! With a final smile she returned to her typing.

Jessica popped the last of the jellybeans into her mouth and squared her shoulders. She had come to see her grandfather on a very important mission and she didn’t want to make any mistakes. With purposeful steps she marched to his office and threw open the door.

John Reynolds looked up from behind his big desk with surprise on his jolly face. His thick white hair stuck out in all directions and Jessica thought in passing that he needed a haircut. But then, so did her daddy, most of the time. So did she, for that matter.

Grandpa grinned broadly and turned away from the word processor on the corner of his desk. Hi, there, Sugar. Come give your favorite great-grandpa a big kiss!

"You’re my only grandpa, and you are great," Jessica said, because she knew he expected it. She only had one grandpa but this one would be her favorite even if she had ten grandpas. She trotted obediently around the desk and planted a big smack on his cheek, being careful to keep her shopping bag behind her.

He continued to beam at her. So what brings you to my neck of the woods when you should be out playing with your friends? He waved her toward a chair beside the desk.

She slipped into it, dangling bare brown legs over the edge of the seat. Maybe she should have dressed up for this important job? Her grandfather seemed to like seeing her in dresses and here she was in old cut-off jeans and a faded red T-shirt. She frowned, suddenly realizing that her sneakers had identical holes over the little toes of both feet. She sighed. Too late to worry about that now.

He was waiting for an answer. She pursed her lips and tried to think how to begin. Well, see...uh...

He stopped smiling but he didn’t look mean or anything. Hmm... He cocked his head to one side. Looks like you mean business this time, young lady.

I sure do! Jessica popped to her feet, finally hauling the bag around in front of her. Placing it on the floor, she reached inside and pulled out her piggy bank, the white ceramic one with the red spots that Grandpa had given her Christmas before last She placed the bank on the desktop before him.

He leaned back in his chair, hooking his thumbs in his suspenders. What’s this!

All the money I have in the world, she said fervently. I hope it’s enough.

Enough for what?

Turning, she rummaged around in her shopping bag again and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper, her heart pounding. Holding her breath, she offered the paper to him.

He unfolded the page and spread it out on the desk with great care. Picking up his glasses, he perched them on his nose and began to read.

Jessica held her breath. She’d put a lot of thought into the advertisement she wanted to place in her grandfather’s newspaper. Hadn’t he always said you could find anything you wanted, or get rid of anything you didn’t want, with an ad in the Review?

She was about to put him to the test. She’d worked very hard on her ad, copying it over and over, trying to get all the words just right. She’d read it so many times that now she could recite it by heart:

‘Wife Wanted. Rich and handsome Prince Charming who likes kids and pets needs a wife. She must be pretty and nice and also like kids and pets.’

Well, well, well. Grandpa removed his glasses and peered at her in surprise. Prince Charming, huh? Are you talking about anybody we know here?

Jessica laughed nervously. "You know we are, Grandpa. I’m talking about Daddy!"

He nodded, looking very serious. That’s what I thought until I got to that ‘rich’ part.

Pretty rich, she hedged. I heard Mrs. Forbes say he was a great catch one time. Is that the same?

He rolled his eyes. "Close enough for government work, I guess. But I wouldn’t exactly call my grandson a Prince Charming, either."

I had to say something nice or nobody would answer the ad, she argued a little desperately.

He chuckled softly. Is it that important to you, Sugar? Aren’t you happy? Isn’t your daddy taking good care of you?

This was the part she’d dreaded, trying to explain to Grandpa how she felt. He’s...he’s awesome as a daddy, she said slowly, but as a mother... well, as a mother, Grandpa, he...he...

Stinks? he offered helpfully.

She sighed. Yeah, I guess.

But I thought he had girlfriends. I mean, doesn’t he go out on dates sometimes?

Now it was Jessica’s turn to roll her eyes. "Sure, but not with mothers. They’re pretty and all, but they just pat me on the head and try to get away as fast as they can. She curled her lip at the memories. That Brandee woman is the worst."

You mean Brandee Haycox, the banker’s daughter?

Jessica blinked. "I don’t know. I just know she doesn’t like kids much and she hates dogs. When she saw Fluffy the first time, she screamed."

Honey, Fluffy is a ninety-pound Siberian Husky with silver eyes and fangs like a wolf.

She thrust out her bottom lip stubbornly. That Brandee woman doesn’t like dogs! What kind of person doesn’t like dogs?

You got me there. He cocked his head and he was no longer smiling. You don’t think...you don’t think your father’s planning to marry her?

Hot tears sprang to Jessica’s eyes. I hope not, but he’s gotta marry someone. I need a mother! I need someone who knows how to comb my hair without pulling it out by the roots. With one hand she flipped up her long straight hair—straight except for the tangles. And I want to learn how to cook, and I need someone to sew on my buttons and stuff. Daddy’s no good at girl things, Grandpa.

Never was, he admitted.

"So I just have to do something." Looking around, she spied the big metal stapler on his desk. Grabbing it, she raised it high above the plaster pig, ready to shatter it to smithereens so she could offer him every single cent.

Hold on! Grandpa caught her hand in midair.

She frowned. Don’t you want to know how much money I have? Maybe I don’t have enough.

You’ve got plenty. He slipped the stapler from her hand. I’ll trust you for it.

That had been a big worry. She slumped with relief.

He cupped her chin and raised it so he could look into her eyes. This is really important to you, isn’t it, little one?

She sighed. It is, Grandpa. I’m growing up. I’m almost ten—

Barely nine.

—and I’m gonna be a teenager soon. Somebody’s gotta show me girl stuff or I might goof up.

For a long time, Grandpa sat there with a thoughtful and kind of sad look on his face. Then he suddenly sat up straighter. Okay, we’ll do it, he announced.

She threw herself into his arms, so filled with relief that she could barely talk beyond murmuring over and over again, Oh, thank you, thank you!

Here’s how we’ll work it. We’ll run the ad blind—

Ads can’t see!

He laughed. "Blind means we won’t say whose ad it is. We’ll direct replies to the Review at Box 100."

Okay. She didn’t understand exactly what the point was but she didn’t much care as long as he would run her ad.

Then when we get in all the replies—if there are any—we’ll tell your daddy what we’ve done.

Let’s pray, Jessica suggested, under no illusions that her father would be pleased. But as he was always saying to her, she was doing this for his own good whether he realized it or not.

You got it. Grandpa grimaced. I don’t expect that grandson of mine will be any too happy but by then it’ll be too late.

They exchanged conspiratorial glances. Then he said more cheerfully, Anyway, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. His big grin flashed again. You see, Sugar, you’re not the only one who’d like to see him settle down with a nice girl.

Who likes kids and dogs, she reminded him, because that was the most important part.

Absolutely. He stood up. Take your pig and run along now. I’ll see that the ad gets into today’s paper.

Thanks, Grandpa. She hugged him. But I want you to keep the pig. Daddy says only deadbeats don’t pay their bills.

Well...I can wait for payment until we see if our scheme works out, I suppose. I’ll keep the pig until then.

Thank you, grandpa. I love you.

I love you, too, Sugar. He cleared his throat. So where’s your daddy today?

He’s working on Mrs. Gilliam’s house.

Still?

I don’t think he’ll ever get it right, she said seriously, repeating something she’d heard at home.

Probably not, Grandpa agreed. "Poor Laura. So that’s why she said she’d be coming in late today."

Matt Reynolds shoved his cap back on his head, planted fists on hips and glared at Laura Gilliam. The life-styles editor of the Rawhide Review had to be the pickiest customer he’d encountered since he started the Reynolds Construction Company years ago.

She stared right back at him with an exasperated expression on her face—admittedly a very pretty face but stubborn. Really really stubborn.

He spoke past gritted teeth. You realize that if you keep changing the specifications on us, we’ll never get your family room finished.

Slender brows rose above velvety brown eyes. Her lips were the pink of roses, although set in a straight and forbidding line at the moment. Don’t patronize me, Matthew Reynolds, she said. "This is the only family room I’ll ever be adding to this house and I want it to be right."

Right. She wouldn’t know right if it walked up and kicked her in the shin. What difference was it going to make when she used it, if the bar was six inches to the right or left? But to put it where she wanted it was going to mean changing the door and that meant the windows would have to be adjusted and the refrigerator shifted—hell.

I knew you’d understand, she said sweetly.

Who understands? But if that’s what you want—

It is, she said quickly. Thank you very much for your...patience? Her expression said something else entirely, something along the lines of you’re not going to bully me, you big oaf. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get in to work.

Sure. Don’t let me keep you.

She turned and he found himself admiring the curve of her hips beneath the denim skirt, the slender legs, the bounce of blond hair. When she’d first moved to town three years ago to take the job at the Review, he’d thought that maybe they might...

But he’d been badly mistaken. Laura Gilliam might look good but she was stand-offish and guarded her privacy too fiercely. So far as Matt knew, she rarely dated, although she was much admired by the half of